The Department of Policy Analysis and Management in College of Human Ecology at Cornell University seeks funding to support substance abuse research at the third biennial conference of the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon): "Health, Healthcare, and Behavior." ASHEcon is a professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence in health economics research in the U.S. Beginning with its first conference at the University of Wisconsin in 2006, ASHEcon's biennial conference has quickly become established as the premier health economics conference in the U.S. The conference provides a forum for presenting emerging ideas, empirical results and methodological advances in health economics research and for facilitating the development of the next generation of health economics scholars. Previous NIDA conference grants helped the first and second ASHEcon conferences include high quality sessions on the economics of substance use and abuse, including research on the determinants, prevention, treatment, and other issues. We are requesting NIDA funding through another conference grant to continue and build on this track record. The research presented at the ASHEcon conference will help move forward NIDA's research agenda. Many of the health economists who will attend are NIDA grantees, and others may become interested in these topics after hearing the plenary speakers and the papers presented. The third biennial ASHEcon conference will be held June 20-23, 2010, at Cornell University in Ithaca NY with pre-conference activities on June 19. The conference will be co-hosted by Cornell, Syracuse University and the University of Rochester. As the lead institution hosting this conference, Cornell is requesting partial support from NIDA to promote substance abuse research at the third ASHEcon conference. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The objective of the third biennial conference of the American Society of Health Economists conference is to provide a forum for emerging ideas and empirical results of health economics research. Previous NIDA conference grants helped the first and second ASHEcon conferences include high quality sessions on the economics of substance use and abuse, including research on the determinants, prevention, treatment, and other issues. We are requesting partial funding from NIDA to continue and build on this track record.